Mutants and Monsters
by HeroineCruor
Summary: Donatello invents a portal gun which teleports him and Michelangelo to... you guessed it, the Undergrounds! Suspecting some malevolent mutants and Kraang lurk there, they decide to explore this mysterious world and wipe them out... with the help of some friends they make along the way. Rated T for some language, and violence.
1. Entering the Unknown

**A/N: I can't believe I wrote this. But that I did! This fanfic uses the turtles based on the Nickelodeon show, and it's set somewhere in season 3. And of course... the influential, revolutionary game that is Undertale!**

 **An idea sprouted in my head, and... you know me. I can't leave it alone! So I'm writing it down now. Now or never, right?**

 **In case you're wondering why there has been an astounding lack of writing lately... I've kind of lost confidence in my writing skills. I feel like they aren't as good as they can be. English being my second language, I struggle pretty hard. So, now, I decided, f*ck it, I'll just write like I want to write: my fingers flowing over the keyboard like ninjas jumping between rooftops. Speaking of ninjas...**

 **I love Mikey and Donnie so much! (Or should I say, the B-team? Huh huh). Mikey for his Pinkie Pie-ish Keet-like personality and Donnie for his adorable adorkableness! (Being voiced by Greg Cipes and Rob Paulsen respectively automatically awesome-ifies them anyway) So, no surprise they will be the main characters of this story... along with the skelebros, of course! But don't worry, I plan to have the other turtles, April, Casey, Toriel, Undyne and many more in there as well! I'll see when it's fitting to squeeze 'em in.**

 **I can't promise this story will ever be finished (look at all the deadfics I have, ugh...) I don't know why I can't just finish stories, or simply continue them, it's just... sometimes, my interest dies out. Well, I can at least say I'm looking forward to writing this right now! I'm working on the next chapter tomorrow.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"Doonnnnnieeeee... I'm so boored..." Michelangelo whined, stretching over his brother's work bench, much to the latter's annoyance.

"Then go bug someone else, Mikey!" Donatello yelled, feeling his patience faltering as he was making the final touches on his invention, which resembled some kind of huge gizmo-gun.

"But they're out! Leo is practicing his stuff with Splinter, Raph angrily shoved me out of his room playing with his action figures, April and Casey are watching a movie... You're the only living soul here, dude! Can't I help you out or something? Anything?"

Donnie flatly stared at him square in the eye.

"Remember when you spilled that brain worm mixture on me, reversing my IQ points? I lost the little dignity I had left in front of April!"

"But I also cured you!" Mikey countered, clasping his hands together in a pleading gesture with huge kitty-cat eyes. "Please, let me do something to help you!"

Donnie pinched the bridge of his nose, giving a sigh. Though he hated to admit it, when Mikey had a point about something, he was still pretty clueless about how spot-on he was about it. Mikey had also made that retro-mutogen being his doofus self, when it had taken him months of research to find one himself.

"Okay." He surrendered, disliking the hopeful look on Mikey's face, "but if you ruin anything, ANYTHING, you will never help me again. Understood?"

"As understood as ice-cream kitty when I lock him in the freezer for the night... or something." He trailed off, his brother already getting a bad feeling about agreeing to this.

Donnie raised his finished work, holding is as if it were equipped for combat. He opened his mouth to proudly present his creation until Mikey interrupted him, looking suspicious while also scratching his head.

"Wait a sec, isn't that the Portal Gun from Portal 2?" Mikey asked, eyeing it. Donnie turned a deep shade of red, confirming Mikey's indictment.

"Well, no... you see... uhh... well sort of, kind of... a little, I mean..." Mikey just stared at him as if to say 'it totally is'.

The taller brother yelled out in admission, "ALRIGHT, FINE! I based the construction off of a videogame gun. Sue me!"

Mikey's eyes began to shine. "That's like when you made your stuff from the Super Mega Force Five Team V robot. That's so cool, dude!"

Taking in that his brother wasn't caring much that he had been inspired by an invention from a video game, Donnie's embarrassment quickly dissipated, and his pride came back full force.

"I know, right? I studied the construction of the portal gun from its design, then calculated which parts could be used to make an equivalent in real life by using the analog of Kraang technology, as well as modifying the configuration to fit that of-"

"Oh, look! Pizza time!" Mikey shouted as he made a point of trying to leave the room. Donnie rolled his eyes, feeling frustrated he had no one to share his passion for inventing with.

"Anyway," Donnie kept going before he could feel tempted to go on his trademark tangent, "Like with every finished invention, I need to test it first."

Donatello made a portal on one side of the room, and made the other one on the opposite side, the shorter turtle staring on in awe. "All you need to do is stick your arm through one of them, and it should appear out the other one. But be careful, I don't know what it entails yet, so don't just-"

"Piece of pizza! Booya-kasha!" Mikey shouted and ran to the one closest to them.

"What the shell are you doing?!" Donnie warned, but it was too late, his brother had eagerly jumped straight through the portal. He put a hand to his forehead, contemplating the choices in his life. "When is he going to listen to me for once?" He was so busy feeling irritated it took several minutes until he realized Mikey hadn't come out of the other portal.

 **\- UNDERGROUNDS -**

Michelangelo found himself in the gloominess of some sort of cave. He blinked as he looked around, trying to take in anything which wasn't obscured by the dark. Beneath his feet he felt squashy sensations of petals, ticklish. The only light in the room was several small spots a few feet in front of him, similarly to when a sun would peek through the smaller cracks of the ceiling.

He was still too stunned to realize he hadn't jumped through to the other side of Donnie's lab, expecting his older brother to explode on him for his carelessness.

"Wow, this is... what's that word he would use... some mal-funct-ion?" Even he himself knew that, while he was a meathead, even Donnie wasn't immune to making mistakes. Well, ain't this some mistake to make! He had no idea where he was. Was it like in his alien comics when the portal would lead a way to some alternate-"

"Hey, get off me, punk!" He suddenly heard, and jumped just as quickly away, since it came from somewhere behind him. While his first instinct was to apologize, he instead grabbed for his nunshucks in defense. If this truly was another dimension like his comics had preached was a possibility, maybe an innocent gesture like that could be considered serious offense here... wherever he was.

He faced where the sound had come from. Nothing there. Question marks overriding his mind, he frantically looked back and forth.

"I'm down here, jerk!" Said the voice again. He looked down, and was definitely not expecting to see what he discovered.

It was a flower with... a face. Mikey immediately gushed in joyous gusto.

"Oh, my gosh! You're soo cute!" He said and tickled its chin with his finger. "Cootchie-cootchie-coo!" Much to the dismay of his newly assumed petally friend.

"Get your slimy fingers off of me, freak! I'm not cute! I'm the monster of your worst nightmares! I'll force you to reload your save file!" It frailed about, shooting pellets going every which way, which the turtle dodged without even trying. Mikey wasn't the least threatened but he still respected his privacy by stepping back.

"Yeah, don't think so, flowey. Nothing scares me more than Squirrelanoids, and I can say for certain you're not one." Mikey claimed with confidence, crossing his arms.

"How dare you! I- wait... How did you know my name was Flowey?" Flowey asked, puzzled. Mikey was just as surprised he had gotten it right, widening his eyes.

"Wait... that's your name? Flowey? No offense, but that sounds really lame." He kept on talking before Flowey could react with a huff. "That crosses one option as your name then. How about the Pellet Poisoner? The Super Stigma? No, no... I got it!" Talking to himself, he raised a forefinger in the air the same moment the right name landed in his head.

"I'll name you Monika!"

"You're not naming me anything! My name is Flowey!" The flower yelled in protest. "And Monika? I understand your other ideas, but that doesn't even make sense!"

"Just... Monika. You don't get it?"

"No!"

"Your loss, then. It's ingenious either way." Mikey concluded proudly.

Then, out of nowhere, a light brightened up the cave, a portal appearing as its source, and running toward them came a turtle with very mixed expressions; fury, confusion, fear rolled into one messy emotion. Donatello.

"Mikey! What did I tell you?! No Leroy Jenkinsing! You were supposed to...!" Noticing Flowey made his voice trail off, and so did his steps. "Is that... a flower with a face?"

"My name is Flowey! Oh, whatever! Screw you, guys, I'm outta here!" Flowey returned to the soil where he had grown from, vanishing without a trace. Donnie rubbed his eyes, not believing what he was seeing. Mikey just stood there, shoulders shrugged sheepishly. However, his brother was much too baffled, his seething anger subsiding.

"I named him Monika!" The shorter turtle proudly enlightened the situation, which didn't do much to cease the thoughts surging through Donnie's head.

Having regained a little of his religion, Donnie put a hand to his chin, thinking of each and every logical possibility for this phenomenon.

"Mikey... what else did he say to you?" Donnie finally asked, still musing, as his brother thoughtlessly answered.

"Oh, I dunno. Something about being a monster... then lots of gibberish even I couldn't comprehend. Then he shot pellets at me!" Mikey explained, dawning on him just how weird it actually was.

"This shouldn't be possible." Donnie spoke, somewhat anxious at this revelation, "flowers can't talk, much less descend to where they came from. Unless..." He looked at the other turtle, hoping he also was hit with the same idea he was. Surprisingly, he was, a rare moment of clarity showing.

"Wait... Are you saying... that was a mutant?"

"Could be. I mean, what else could it be? I've never seen anything like this. Trust me, I know a thing or two about botany, after all those times we had to deal with mutants like the Creep..."

Donnie, looked to the long, stretching tunnel ahead of them, neverending as an invitation. One look at Mikey, and it was met with a serious nod his direction. His gaze flickered back. If there were more mutants here, they needed to take care of them. They couldn't afford another invasion courtesy of another cowardly hiding by the Kraang.

One step forth...

They felt filled with determination.

* * *

 **A/N: Hope it's okay! I think it is.**

 **Why did I make a reference to Doki Doki Literature Club? Why? 'Cause it scared the crap out of me, which is hard to do (I love horror), and I can't get it out of my head. Especially when it shares elements with Undertale! I recommend it strongly, but don't play it if you can't take a little disturbance. Like I said, it even frightened me...**

 **See ya next time! Mwah!**


	2. Family is Complicated

**A/N: I changed the secondary genre to "Family", because... well, you'll see in this chapter. But this story will definitely have lots of humor! That's what I do best.**

 **I'd like to know what you think. Chapter 2 time, now!**

* * *

"SANS! GET OUT OF BED, YOU LAZYBONES!" The door to his bedroom was frantically knocked.

Sans drowsily opened his eye sockets. Again with this yelling as an alarm clock; he would have much preferred to have soothing jazz music welcoming him to this new day.

"IT'S 12 IN THE AFTERNOON!" Papyrus unknowingly corrected his observation. "YOU NEED TO BE ON THE LOOK-OUT FOR HUMANS BY NOW! WE CAN'T AFFORD ANOTHER SALARY CUT."

Salary shmalary. He could live sleeping under a rock and he would still be happy. But then, he couldn't support his baby brother. So getting out of bed it was, then.

Well, "getting out" wasn't the exact term to use. In his sleep, he had rolled over onto the floor with his legs still on the bed, his blanket making sure he hadn't been uncomfortable as he was curled around it with his arms.

He put on his winter jacket as he turned the handle out to the hallway, and without further notice a bundle of socks was shoved into his hold.

"AND PICK UP YOUR SOCKS!" Papyrus commanded.

"...you picked them up. you're just giving them to me." Sans stated as a matter of fact.

"WHATEVER. JUST TAKE THEM. UNDYNE IS COMING OVER AND I NEED TO IMPRESS HER IF I'M GOING TO BE ACCEPTED INTO THE ROYAL GUARD. I WONT HAVE IT SCREWED UP BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T DO YOUR CHORES!" The taller skeleton shoved his brother downstairs in the direction of the laundry room, Sans still holding onto his impressive collection as he was pushed. "WASH THEM! WE CAN'T GIVE A VIBE OF BEING TOO LAID-BACK AND LAZY, OR SHE WONT TAKE ME SERIOUSLY! SO NO CRACKING JOKES, SANS!"

"...come on, paps. you sure she wont find them _humerus_?" He made sure to draw out the last word, along with a sly wink.

"OH MY GOD, SANS!"

* * *

After leaving his brother to clean up their house, Sans started his routinely shift by crossing into the forest areas of Snowdin. He took note of the smallest of things to cure his boredom, like the snow falling unusually thick. If it hadn't been for the cold, he would have sneaked in a quick nap beneath some branches. The skeleton put his hands in his pockets as far as the sleeves would allow, scanning the endless woods, taking a few steps in different directions as he continuously did just so. As his mind was absent, and so his attention, it took a while for him to notice a mysterious lump in the snow...

He stopped in his tracks, neglecting to shake off the snow having made its way into his slippers. With the help of a hand making shadows for his eyes, and squinting with that, he could finally see it. At first, he assumed it was just a rock, but boredom could do many things to a mind, such as the conviction that even the simplest of distractions could be entertaining.

Walking up to the assumed rock, he tried pushing it with his left foot. His eyes widened. It was no rock, or, at least not a solid one. But how can a rock not be solid?

Curiosity overtaking him, he took to brushing off the snow as best as he could. Several swipes, and the last one conveniently removed the snow from the place instantly revealing the cause.

He stared, unable to have it properly sink in; all his rushing thoughts merely allowing for confusion, anxiety, fear of the unknown before him.

It was... some kind of snake monster. It was built like a snake, but had limbs, two other heads protruding from its tips. It was somewhat taller than him, but it evened it out with lack of strength, or, so he assumed. Being a monster himself, it was no trouble identifying its gender, being female. He put to fingers to what he assumed was her neck, and, fortunately, she was still alive.

When he finally snapped out of his trance, he shook the poor thing urgently, hoping it wasn't too late to save her.

"hey? are you alright?!"

As if flipping on a switch, the slithery creature began hissing. Whether it was from pain or the habit of her species was up to interpretation. She had trouble speaking, assumably having a sore throat from the stiffness of being out on the cold, but he could manage to decode little of it.

"Help... me... the Kraang... they're..." a shaky hand gripped his, begging for what her voice couldn't produce.

He decided to make sense of what she said later. Right now, she needed medical aid. He picked her up, surprised at how light she was, but still struggled to carry her in a fashion that wouldn't drag her head or feet on the ground. It was lucky she had collapsed in Snowdin, otherwise he would have to walk carrying her for several miles, assuredly.

Sans had no idea if it was his talks with the old lady which grew his empathy for others, or if he had always felt that way, just not towards humans. Whatever the reason, he wasn't allowing himself to ignore someone who desperately needed help, or else he knew it would tear on his conscience.

Now, to explain this to Papyrus...

* * *

Papyrus had been very humane about it. In fact, he was the one to order Sans around on how to lay her down in a fashion that wouldn't make her condition worse. First, he told him not to lay her on her back; if she threw up, she could be choking to death from her own vomit. Then, don't give her water until she had been awake for a while, as it dangerous to someone in a state of shock, if she were. And last but not least, keep her warm. Even though they had plenty of blankets, Sans offered his thick, fur jacket to grant her warmth.

Sans had actually been surprised at Papyrus' sense of craftiness, and when asked how he knew all this, the younger brother had simply answered that if he were to become a royal guard, he needed to be knowledgeable in survival skills. Sans rolled his eyes to himself, thinking how cute it was that he was so enthusiastic about his ambitions. He sometimes envied it...

As Papyrus went back to cleaning, Sans just sat there in what seemed like hours of time, simply waiting, the clock ticking away. His gaze wandered back to her face, hearing her gentle breaths, and then the questions crept into his consciousness one by one.

Where did she come from? Was she a tourist who had gotten lost? Is she a resident of some other town her had never been to, and came for a visit? He even dared think a bizarre one; did she not come from this world?

He scoffed a laugh at that thought. Ridiculous. There was no way...

He put a gentle, tentative hand to her forehead, seeking to find if her fever had gone down. Instead, a flash came before his eyes, coming like lightning to his mind. His eyes widened as they no longer saw her, but something else before them.

It was... a heart. A soul. It had no color he had ever seen a soul have before; indigo illuminated from the depths of its core. How he even identified it as a heart was a testament to his experience, because a rookie would certainly not have seen it as one. It was... in all directions. The tip pointing upward, downward, sideways, the lines going in distorted proportions, much like waves. A sound... it was getting louder. Audible, loud, ear-tearing... it was a blood-curling scream for help, in a voice he didn't know could be heard to a monster's ear. It was...

He removed his hand from her forehead, shaking, his heart pounding in irregular beats as sweat rolled down his head. Ragged breathing wouldn't cease. It wouldn't stop.

Whatever she... this thing... was... it wasn't a monster. It wasn't human... it was... an unidentified creature he had never in his life laid eyes on, and one most likely would have been seen in labs if it had been concieved.

A chimera?

A hybrid?

A... mutant?

"Impossible..." His mind turned completely blank, shut down as his eyes could do little but stare at the still resting creature in front of him, pondering how she ever came to be.

* * *

"So what kind of mutants do you think are here?" Michelangelo asked as he absently twirled his nunchucks around, walking with exaggerated steps.

"I'm not sure. I'm not catching any on my radar." Donatello said as he carefully monitored the screen of his mutagen scanner. "There has to be some of them around here though. We saw it with our own eyes." He frowned, punching the device in frustration. "Maybe this device need some fixing. Was a while ago I did after all. Let's take a break and see if I can find what needs to be upgraded." He decided as he spun around a wrench he always secretly carried with him to open its innards. "Any luck on calling the others?"

"Nope", Mikey said, holding a T-phone away from his ear to confirm his statement, "No signal in here." His mind caught a thought, dismissed it, then nagged him until it forced itself out of his mouth. "What if we're still not in New York city?... what, if... this isn't our Earth at all?" Mikey's epiphany came to him.

"That's simply not possible, Mikey." Donnie commented as he began observing the cords inside the scanner, "The portal gun wasn't created for dimensional travel. One would need a stronger power source to accomplish that, which I doubt even the Kraang possess. That they got to our dimension from Dimension X was either a lucky shot or the product of months of research. While I did use their technology for my blueprints, it's still just that; miming formation, often inferior to the original models. If I had to guess, we're probably inside Niagara Falls."

"Why can't we just prove who's theory is right?" Mikey countered fiercely, still believing firmly in his words, "Why don't you use the portal gun right now?" He challenged.

Donnie froze in his motions, his nerves going numb as a blush sneaked itself onto his face.

"I... left it behind..."

"You WHAT?!" Mikey yelled, causing the sudden outburst to bounce of the cave walls in an echo. Donnie frowned in self-defense; trying to explain what had lead him into doing so.

"You just ran into the portal! I had no idea what it was doing to you; you were not exiting the other one! I was worried, you know? So all rationale thinking vanished as I desperately wanted to get you back... and in the process, my panic left it behind."

"I was fine! I can take care of myself! Leaving it behind was a dumb move, now we may never get back!" He held up his hands in a hopeless gesture.

"Like you're one to talk!" Donnie stood up, shoving at his younger brother. "If you hadn't just run right into this mess, then maybe we wouldn't be here! Maybe, just maybe, if you hadn't made me worried sick, we could be back at the lab! Maybe, if you had just actually listened to me for once, we wouldn't be walking in a cold, dark cave, perhaps without an exit! You always mess things up! ALWAYS! You just ruin everything!"

Mikey stood and glared Donnie straight in the eye, having a secret dagger war between them. In the end, Mikey just gave a shameful sigh, looking below.

"Look, I'm sorry-"

"Sorry doesn't cut it! You just make the same mistakes over and over again! I'm not entrusting you to anything again. 'Cause you never do anything right!" Donnie said as he assertively picked up his equipment and walked ahead. "You should just find your own way out of here. I'm leaving!"

Mikey could feel tears well up in his eyes at his brother's hurtful words, but blinked them away, not allowing them to steer him away from the situation at hand. Now wasn't the time for quarrel. He was willing to swallow his pride if it meant the better outcome for them being lost.

"Donnie, wait!" Mikey ran followed suit in a little sprint, the taller turtle still walking with furious steps away from him. "You can be mad at me how much you want, but splitting up isn't what we should do! You will probably despise me for saying what I'm about to say, but horror movies and comic books warn just about the dangers of splitting up! I..." 'I don't want my last memory of you being a silly fight', he wanted to say, but the stinging words he'd heard from him kept playing in his head on repeat, silencing him.

Donatello turned around to look at him. It was obvious Michelangelo was about to cry, and guilt suddenly washed over him. However, it quickly subsided as he with a harsh tone groaned in agreement.

"Ugh, fine!" He cocked his head in the direction of the most likely tunnel to hold an entrance, "Let's go this way. But you're listening to me, understand? With or without the scanner, we will find those things! Screw things up, and... and..." He tried coming up with a proper threat, but then just huffed, "Wh-whatever. Just don't do anything rash, okay?"

"But..." Mikey knew he couldn't blow this chance on gaining Donnie's trust again, so his voice cut off to restart. "Okay."

Unbeknownst to them, as they reverted to their stride, two aliens in android suits were watching them from a respectable distance. Aliens which had no benevolent feelings towards the ones they were persecuting.

"Kraang believes we should send which is called a signal to the Kraang Highness."

"Well, Kraang believes we should wait a little longer and keep on pursuing the ones referred to as the turtles."

"Kraang believes you're which is commonly named an idiot."

"Kraang thinks you suck. Kraang finds this which is called comical. Ha. Ha."

"Kraang says f*ck you."

"Kraang ignores it in favor of doing the activity which in common terms is spying."

"Kraang agrees."

* * *

 **A/N: I wanted to end the chapter on a more comical note. Writing their fighting tore at my very emotions.**

 **Yeah, I'm on fire! I feel so pumped to write this story now, ever since I put less pressure on myself about making my writing perfect. I'll just write what comes to me from now on. I have so many ideas, I can't wait to put them down on paper!**

 **I would love getting reviews, but simply taking your time to read my work makes me happy.**

 **Peace out!**


	3. Welcome to Snowdin?

**A/N: Phew! Got this chapter down! I hope you enjoy it. It's my favorite so far.**

* * *

The silence was unbearable... but unfortunately had to be endured.

Donatello had, of all things, brought a flashlight as the darkness consumed the environment the further they advanced. They still weren't on speaking terms... or rather, Donnie wasn't. Mikey wanted to say something, but his feelings couldn't afford another hurtful word. It was, for now, better to stay silent until necessary.

They came to a turning path, and Donnie made sure to call it to Mikey's attention by pointing at it, temporarily forgetting their silent feud.

"Look, a turning point!" He said and turned the flashlight in that direction, "We've been walking in a straight line ever since be came here. This could actually lead somewhere fruitful!"

Mikey didn't say anything. Following suit is all he dared to do.

Out of eagerness, Donnie ran ahead, disappearing around the corner in a curled path, his arms behind him in a ninja stance. His brother didn't expect this sudden action, and so he stammered out, "H-hey! Wait up, Donnie!"

Mikey hurried after, not expecting the collision with a shell as soon as he'd caught up. He let out an 'oof' as he landed square on his behind, looking up as he realized Donnie had stopped dead in his tracks. Mikey glared, yelling. Promises of obedience be damned.

"What's the big idea?" Donnie held up a finger to silence him, immediately followed by his hand helping his brother up, his head turned forward the entire time. Mikey had kept an angry eye on the taller turtle the entire time, ready to give more of what he'd started. "I know you're angry with me, but you don't have t-" Again, Donnie shut him up by grabbing the top of his head and turned it forward.

Mikey's jaw dropped.

Ahead of them, there was a village.

Small, decorative houses enumerated each side of the main path they stood on, all in differiating shapes and forms. Although this was a huge enough surprise, what really caught their attention was the 'people'.

Far ahead, there were a pair of rabbit-like creatures, then further down, a polar bear and several ones they couldn't even identify as any existing species. Just left of the path, there was a giant banner presenting: "Welcome to Snowdin".

"Snowdin?" Donnie furrowed an eyebrow.

Michelangelo was tempted, so tempted, to boast 'I told you so!' in regards to being somewhere else than New York City, as Snowdin wasn't a known place to them. He hoped Donnie realized he'd underestimated him and would credit him for his theory for once... instead of percieving him as an idiot him and the others did most of the time.

The inventor grabbed Mikey by the shoulders, his enthusiastic attitude for discovering a new phenomenon invading him.

"Do you know what this means?!"

Mikey smiled hopefully at Donnie as he starved for much needed respect.

"Mutants have built a civilization in Niagara Falls, blissfully unaware of their whereabouts!"

Mikey resisted the impulse to facepalm. Suffice it to say, he didn't know half the words his brother was using, but he knew for certain Donnie hadn't given in to admitting he had been right. That, or... he genuinely believed what he said.

"Still smiling, he let go of his brother and stepped forward, "this means that the mutants residing here are harmless! There is no threat!"

"Are you sure?" Mikey got the courage to question, only recieving a scorn his way.

"I've at least been more right than you ever were."

Mikey successfully choked a sob, retaining his stoic expression. If Donnie wasn't going to act mature about the whole incident, then he might as well act the part himself.

"You don't have to be so rude. We should talk to some of the people here for info, bro. They should know better than anyone about their town history."

Donnie didn't deny it was a good plan, nodding reluctantly in agreement.

"Ok, you're right about that." As they began approaching some of the residents, they spotted a giant house with the letters "INN" painted above the entrance. "That seems to be a great place to start as any." Donnie decided, smiling.

None of the residents had spotted them yet, and thus they were unexpectant of the shocked stares drilling into them. Unless they didn't know better, they soon seemed to morph into that of contempt.

Mikey grabbed onto Donnie's shell from behind, fearful.

"They're staring at us, bro. Are we wanted here, or something?" His tone was terrified as he frantically looked around. Trying to be the stronger of the two, Donnie remembered his training and remained calm, determined to make light of the situation before passing down a verdict on these people.

"Let's ask them ourselves. I'm sure they confused us for someone else." Ignoring the stares following their every move, Donatello made his way to the inn counter, his brother still holding onto him for dear life, hiding behind his artificially confident posture.

"Excuse us, m'am." A cat lady tore her eyes away from the newspaper she was reading, forming an expression of terror at the sight of them. "Could you be so kind to-"

"Who are you? What do you want?" She bombarded him with a tirade of questions before he could finish stating his business. Donnie felt uneasy at the tone, but held up his composure bravely.

"Me an my brother here," Mikey peeped above him to quickly wave shyly before disappearing behind him again, "would like to know what this lovely little town has-"

"Are you kappa?" She cut him off again. Donatello blinked at the sudden question.

"Pardon?"

"Are you kappa?" She repeated in the exact same tone.

"Actually, we-" Michelangelo managed to throw in before Donnie elbowed him as a means to tell him he was in control of the situation.

"-yes, yes, we are." He wrongfully claimed, hoping it would make peace with her.

A look so sharp, so toxic, quickly etched her face. If her voice had a visual analogy, it would be knives stabbing them in the eyes.

"Get out. You're not welcome here." She pointed to the exit.

Donnie was shocked at the sudden hostility. She made no secret of her opinion of them in the slightest. Donnie had to agree with what Mikey uttered next.

"What did we do?"

"You know what you are, and that's enough. Get out before I call the guards."

Mikey opened his mouth again to argue, but Donnie covered it quickly.

"Of course, m'am. We'll leave. Excuse us." He spoke as politely as possible, backing their way outside again. Before the entrance closed, they could hear mutterings of, "Cucumber-loving freaks."

Of which Mikey heard, and so he exclaimed loudly, "How did they know we like cucumbers?! Not as much as pizza, but still!" Donnie dragged his brother away with an arm anchored around his neck, enough with the faulty impression he was giving. It didn't faze him, clenching his fist and pumping it in the direction of the inn, getting angrier by the second.

"They throw us out because we're kappa?! That's so unfair! That's racism! Discrimination!" He shouted, ignoring how forcefully he was being pulled.

Although Donatello was stunned at Mikey's suddenly extensive vocabulary, he saved asking it for another time. Instead, he went to musing to himself loudly.

"Why are they so hostile towards kappa? What did they do?"

Mikey released himself from his brother's grip, giving a surprisingly sound explanation.

"Because kappa are demonic creatures in Japanese folklore, known for eating and drowning children!" He scrunched his expression into that of the feeling of being wronged, arms crossed, "If they only knew how wrong they actually are!"

"Yeah, but even then... people are normally 'scared' of them, not shunning them."

"Whatcha expect? They're... weird creatures themselves. Not human beings. If I remember it right, humans are scared of yokai." Mikey claimed.

"I guess you have a point." He stated as they kept on walking, failing to ignore the stares aimed their way, and not belevolent ones. "But still... it's annoying trying to get information with these people glaring at you."

"Why did you tell them we are kappa anyway?" Mikey accused, forgetting his place. "We aren't kappa!"

"Because she was asking? And I thought it might've helped us! Besides, they probably would have thought we were kappa anyway."

Michelangelo sighed, knowing he was probably right.

"Still... what are we gonna do now?" Mikey asked, hopelessness dripping off every syllable. They kept on walking reluctantly acknowledging the looks of prejudice they were recieving. Mikey was on the verge of mentally breaking down from the amount.

"Be strong, Mikey," Donnie comforted him, placing a hand on his shoulder, "We'll figure out what to do."

Suddenly, a scream erupted from a couple of feet away. The commotion made everyone drop what they were doing and, the two turtles not doing anything at the moment, were the first to react. Villagers were already fleeing the scene, too scared of the unknown assailants to help.

"LET GO OF ME, PERVERTS!" Shouted a shrill female voice. The two ninjas took to running in that direction, and finally saw an opportunity to use their fightning skills as they whipped out their respective weaponry. They were surprised at the sight meeting them when getting face to face with the situation at hand.

"What the heck are the Kraang doing here?!" Donatello yelled without losing focus.

"Who cares, we gotta save 'er!" Michelangelo replied, set on his target.

"Kraang Lord wishes to have a so called subject back to his laboratory in Dimension X." Said one of the androids, not feeling at all how hard the female rabbit he'd captured was punching his back as he carried her over his shoulder, already about to leave with his hostage along with his companion.

"Kraang sees the seizing of the opportunity to be of the reckless kind." Said the other.

"Kraang says 'bite me'."

That's all the two mutants registered before coming to her rescue.

* * *

Sans was moistening a cloth in warm water for the snake girl's head when the phone suddenly rang, stopping a moment to pick it up. He was unaware of the caller's intentions, thinking it was a casual matter, so he put it to his shoulder as he multitasked with the towel.

"yeah?" He answered as he rolled up his sleeves and took the phone with his hand.

"Sans, we need your help now!" Sans felt urgent at the fearful tone, realizing it as the librarbarian's voice.

"what's going on?" He asked, as any reasonable person would.

"No time to explain, there are some mysterious robot-like creatures attacking the residents all over Snowdin! The royal guards are out scouting at this time, and we have no way of contacting them. We need your help taking them down!"

Sans just remembered Undyne had come over to get his brother, then Papyrus babbling about the rookie scouting session in Waterfall that he was going to attend beforehand, and figuring out these two events were supposed to be the one and same. So he knew it was a critical time. Paps would probably be angry with him for doing something heroic without him around, but it was a risk he was willing to take for the sake of saving lives. With no shred of hesitation, he made it clear:

"...i'm coming."

* * *

"Finally, some action!" Michelangelo clamoured with a grin, as he readied his nunshucks. Donatello was the first to attack, spinning around his staff. He flipped forward toward the one holding the rodent lady, and ejected the blade from the tip in an attempt to thrust it forward. Due to the lady's reaction being a terrified shriek at the sight, the Kraang foresaw the assault and quickly dodged sideways. Due to being a ninja, Donnie was practiced on how to quickly recover upon failure, and socked the staff in a collateral angle into the android's body. Even though it wasn't a finishing blow, it was enough for him to lose his grip on his captive.

Michelangelo, meanwhile, went to attack the companion, which wasn't as much an easy feat, as he wasn't holding anything to distract him. Because of that, it took longer to deliver several strikes to the android's head. Scheming a different strategy, Mikey flipped backwards, landing on his knees, before casting a small throwing axe, whirling through the air as it detached the head from the android's shoulders. The Kraang, now vulnerable without their body extensions, retreated by creeping away into the shadows.

The turtles were merciful, thus they didn't kill the aliens, and instead had an alternate plan formed on how to get them back to their dimension. Now post-threat, they put their weapons back in their sheaths, unconsciously in a show-offy pose.

They had been so indulged in battle they hadn't noticed everyone around them, including the female rabbit, staring wide-eyed at them. Some of them had been previously glaring at them, and others were seeing them for the first time, such as the damsel trembling on the snow ground. Donnie reached a hand to assist her, but she crawled backwards, deathly afraid of him, looking at him with the twirls which seemed to be her eyes. Before long, they heard mutterings and murmurings among the crowds of onlookers.

"Did... did they just save that poor girl?"

"Impossible! They're kappa, they don't save anyone!"

"They probably just selfishly wanted to have her all for themselves to feast on!"

"Yeah, that's probably it!"

Escalations occured in their speculations, ones to an antagonistic point. Donnie and Mikey again got nervous, huddling close to each other.

Another loud sound of metal hitting the ground interrupted their narrow outlook on what had occurred. The torso of another android the turtles hadn't even known was there, landed with a large thud next to their feet. Next, a deep, calm voice was given forth amidst the confused masses.

"those guys are with me."

A short skeleton in a blue eskimo jacket approached the scene, the right hand in his pocket nonchalantly as the left hand was glowing of blue, the eye on the same side having smoke coming out of it like a chimney.

"Sans!" The little orange female rabbit exclaimed in relief as she ran up to him and clung to him. The skeleton felt uncomfortable at the unwanted intimicy, but gently let her down by softly shoving her away with his hands, talking in a comforting tone to her.

"now, bonnie. i think you owe your gratitude to those guys over there." He gestured towards the turtles, who, having no idea what to do at this point, awkwardly waved with sheepish grins. "after all, they were the ones who saved you."

Relucant, she made a tentative step towards them, hands clenched by her chest. At one point, she looked back at Sans for help, him urging her to go on. While still scared, she made a careful approach to follow Sans' insistence. Ears droopy, she looked up at the one wearing a purple mask, heart pounding as she scrutinized him.

Donnie gave off a completely non-threatening vibe as he gave her his traditional gap-toothed smile, kneeling down carefully to look at her on an eye-level.

"Hi." He said, tone radiating of warmth. "I'm Donatello."

Her heart pounded faster, but this time of something other than fear.

"OH, MY GOSH!" She exclaimed in a girly fashion, hands to her cheeks to cover her blush,

"YOU'RE SO CUTE!"

Donnie jerked back at the sudden hug he was recieving from the monster bunny, her arms wrapping around his neck to the point he was lacking too much of air. "H-hey, now!" Donnie tried to veer her off, having a hard time to voice his protests, and was only helped by Mikey stepping in.

"Calm down there!" Unbenknownst to him, it was a fatal mistake on his part... for now her attention was on him instead.

"HOLY CRAP." Bonnie released the poor Turtle, traumatized by her endeavours of suffocating him, as she stared at Mikey as if he were a rare gem, falling in love with his big eyes and freckled face.

"WHY ARE YOU GUYS SO CUTE?!" She questioned loudly with hearts in her eyes as she began chasing after the shorter turtle. Michelangelo had just witnessed what she'd done to Donnie, and so he was better prepared to sprint away from her clucthes. They ran in circles around the decorated tree in the center, Mikey having an almost cartoonishly expression, scared of the unwanted affection.

"Could somebody help me out here? Donnie!" Mikey's cries of help echoed. Sans quickly granted his request.

"bonnie, is that mettaton over at the inn?" He spoke loudly to make sure she heard it.

Having large ears, she heard it instantly, dropping her attention on Mikey immediately to look for everyone's favourite celebrity.

"OH, MY GOSH! WHERE?!" With that, she took off. Michelangelo outhaled deeply in relief, walking up to his brother and his new hero, the skeleton.

"sorry about that, guys. she has trouble with the booze, if you catch my drift. once you know how to handle her, she's a walk in the park." Sans chuckled, knowing what a frightful effect he had on the two poor fellows.

The onlookers were still percieving the scene unfolded, flabbergasted at the kind way their hero was speaking to the kappas.

"Sans... helped them?"

"Maybe they're his friends?"

"If they're friends of Sans, they can't be evil..."

The crowds' pre-judgments abated, earnestly turning a few cogs in their minds. Realizing there was little of relevance for them to stare if this were the case, they dispersed, returning to their own business. The two turtles felt relaxed at the thought of not being contsantly looked over. Donatello made a light bow in gratitude.

"Thank you so much, sir." Sans snickered at the overly-polite gesture, putting his left hand back in its pocket.

"don't sweat it, kid. people here just aren't used to see visitors, much less kappas." He made a generous offer, "let me treat you at our local diner. i admire the _spine..._ and mercy... you had in taking down those things." He winked playfully.

Michelangelo's eyes brightened up.

"Do they have pizza?"

"of course. grillby's has it all."

As they shuffled away to said place, Sans' new acquaintances in tow, he made his presentation. He looked back at Donatello, assuming (reasonably) he was the responsible sibling.

"by the way, welcome to snowdin. i'm sans the skeleton. sorry you didn't get a proper greeting." Donnie thought that was a complete understatement, but ignored it.

"It's alright. We're used to people seeing us as freaks." _Just not down in a dungeon where the people were equally as freaky_ , Donnie mused cynically.

As they entered the bar, laughter with clinks of bottles chimed through the air, a cozy atmosphere hitting them, if you asked Sans. The customers, such as a giant dog in armor, a huge monster with impressive teeth etc. didn't interrupt what they were doing, but sneaked glances at the two strangers, still wary of them.

After reaching the counter, Sans turned to the freckled turtle.

"what's your name, kid?"

"Mic-hel-ang-elo." He answered in a sassy tone, giving zero whats.

He grinned back at him, knowing they would make good friends. Maybe moreso with his brother...

"just tell ol' grillby over there what toppings you'd like, and he'll make it in a jif." Sans pointed with a thumb at the flame creature ready to take orders as he was cleaning a glass with a cloth. Mikey eagerly hopped over and gave him an absurdly long list of weird things he'd like on his pizza, to the point poor Grillby had to scribble on several pages to not miss a single one.

Sans just laughed at seeing the most stressed expression he'd ever seen the bartender have, which was quite a feat because of his stoic nature. Donnie, by contrast, felt a bit annoyed at the sight. It was to the point he leant down to Sans at a whispering distance.

"Sorry my brother's a bit eccentric." He apologized for his younger brother, who was still busy pondering over the toppings he'd like.

The smile never left the skeleton's face when he gave an unexpected reply.

"i have a younger brother much like yours. so I'm used to it." He added with a mysterious glint in his eyesocket, "just let him be himself, though, donatello. at least he isn't a genocidal maniac. unlike..." He faded out, neglecting what he was about to say. Luckily for him, Donnie didn't notice, and instead felt perplexed at something else he'd said.

"How did you know my name was Donatello?"

"easy. you introduced yourself to bonnie... plus your bro has said it plenty of times." Innocently insensitive, he tacked on, "i never heard you say his, so that's why i asked him."

Donatello's heart punctured by a needle at his words, feeling they were slapping him in the face over and over until his senses went numb. He kept himself straightened up, even though he almost felt his lip tremble from a sudden sadness washing over him, one he didn't feel prepared for at all. One he himself didn't find rational.

Although Sans didn't mean to, he made it worse with a tone of softness to his observation.

"he seems to really look up to you."

Donnie turned away in case his pain was too obvious, excusing himself as he walked off, not knowing where he was heading. He hoped it was the exit... somewhere he felt his brotherly delinquency could contain better. As he was met with the cold against his skin once again, a tear slipped out.

As a scientist, he felt completely uncharacteristic with his next train of thought.

That maybe, the complexity of one's emotions didn't need logic.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry about the heaviness at the end. My own feelings play in, but for different reasons. I was diagnosed with high-functioning autism earlier this year, along with chronic depression. I take some medication, but sometimes I feel like I can't get by anyway. In my darkest hour, I sometimes feel suicidal. However, keep in mind that this is _rare_ , and most times, despite being sad, I do _not_ want to actually kill myself. I just want to be left alone to my pain.**

 **So, there's so much sibling stuff in this because mine have been an amazing support during this time. My brother is the one who repeatedly speaks sense into me, and my sister seems to care from a distance, even though I know she's busy. I'm so thankful I'm not an only child.**

 **On another note, yes, I do know Drunk Bun doesn't have a canon name, so I just gave her one I saw fit.**

 **Anyway, sorry again. Didn't mean to get so serious and angsty... I'll try to be more lighthearted too, of course! See you next time!**


	4. Tension

**A/N: See? Told ya I would continue it! Long overdue though...**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"You're getting the hang of it. Just show me one more front stance."

"AS YOU WISH!" Papyrus followed Undyne's order, getting himself into a typical martial arts stance.

"Hmm... square your shoulders..." the fish girl instructed while straightening his hunch-over. "Bend your other leg a little more..."

"I'M SORRY, BUT HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO STAND LIKE THIS WITHOUT FALLING OVER?"

Undyne slapped him.

"QUIET, MAGGOT! Are you a skeleton or a mouse?!"

"...IS THAT A RHETORICAL QUESTION? -oof!" The skeleton grunted as he'd recieved a punch in his hollow abdomen.

"PRACTICE IS KEY! If you expect to be a hardcore expert from just one day of training, you're badly mistaken! To get as good as me takes years and years of continued work!"

Papyrus turned to all the other soldiers, most of whom were large dogs, staring on at her demonstration as Papyrus doubled over in pain.

"SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU AREN'T READY? YOU'RE AN EASY, SQUISHY TARGET! If you want to protect the royal king, you need to be better suited for it. You need to be able to take on enemies with your life on the line! Have I made myself clear?!"

"YES, MA'AM!" Everyone spoke in unison as they stabbed the ground with their spears.

"NOW, 200 LAPS AROUND WATERFALL! GET TO IT, LADIES!"

"HOOAH!" Everyone acknowledged as they all ran in the opposite direction, a rumbling sound as all their steps in accompanion with each other almost caused a ravine fall.  
Left behind was Papyrus, disappointed in himself for his lack of, not only physical strength, but any kind of warrior competence at all. Undyne, contrary to how she'd spoken to the other soldiers, looked at him softly as she put a careful hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Papyrus, but I think we need one-on-one-practice before going with the tough guys." She tried talking as gently as possible, so not to hurt his pride, "is that okay?"

Only a nod she got. A empathic smile came on her face.

"This is completely normal. No one is perfect the first day."

"BUT THIS ISN'T MY FIRST DAY! I'VE DONE THIS LESSON OVER AND OVER AND I CAN'T GET IT RIGHT. WHAT AM I DOING WRONG, UNDYNE?" He felt exasperated and anxious that he wasn't making much progress.

"It takes longer for certain people. It doesn't mean you're bad. Trust me when I say you'll get there." She grabbed his chin to force him to look at her, her eyes shouting of belief in his abilities. "Okay?"

He sighed as confirmation he'd got it, giving a half-hearted thumbs up. She grinned at him confidently.

"Go home and rest. Same time tomorrow, just you and me. We wont rest until you nail that stance." Jogging away a little, while still looking back at him, she proclaimed, "I'm gonna run with the guys now. Stand tall, soldier!" And with that, she had taken off further into the cave, illuminating flowers shading her movements on the ground.

Left behind stood Papyrus, not even trying to salute with the burst of self-reliance he knew she'd wanted him to.

* * *

The lack of enthusiasm as he was dragging himself back home was obvious. Legs like jelly, eyesockets resting at the ground, percieving it tiredly. This side of him he never showed to many. Ironically, Undyne knew more of it than Sans did. That he was lacking the self-confidence needed in doing his absolute best. And he did! He put every pore, every nerve, every sweatdrop into the training... but, for some reason, he just couldn't get it right, and he hadn't a slightest clue what it was. Maybe he wasn't as optimistic about becoming a new recruit as he thought. Maybe he lacked the "spark" that would make him a powerful addition to the team. Maybe...

He stopped, as if realized he was going to walk into something. Sudden, and his feet were suddenly glued to the ground.

Maybe he wasn't physically equipped for it. Perhaps... achieving his dream... was an impossibility. It wasn't meant for him. It... was a ploy for something else, something his subconscious was screaming at him to understand.

He took a few, deep breaths, of the meditating kind. He couldn't, ''wouldn't'', let Sans see him in this way. It was enough that Undyne was patronizing him, he didn't need his brother to do it too. Perhaps the fact that Sans saw him as cool was what really kept him going. Just losing the one person who had full belief in his capabilities, who saw him as an amazing hero, would end up being a serious blow to his self-esteem. He didn't need his pity. He could do this. He could pull through.  
He could pretend.

As if on cue, he suddenly heard chattering further away. Initially, he just thought it were a couple of inhabitants, as the average person would. Then, subsequently, something dragged him to hide behind a giant rock a couple of metres away. The thing that pulled him had been his intuition, he discerned. It was just a gut feeling, he was scolding himself, but there was something terribly wrong about those chatterings. The people owning them were speaking with an unrecognizable pitch, or, so he begged the question. There was little logic in his observation, he knew. And yet...

He peeked an eyesocket out, and he forgot tobreathe for a second, as though it was telling him that breathing wasn't as important as what he was seeing before his very eyes.

Human. Two of them, actually. Humans.

And... kappa?

One of the humans was female. She was wearing a yellow shirt, short shorts and leggings reaching all the way down to her converse. Her red hair and blue eyes were practically lighting up the cave.

Behind her walked another human, whom appeared to be male. He wore darker clothes, a bandana, and carried with him some sort of hockey stick... he was probably a mean hockey enthusiast.

The kappa blew him equally away. There was little difference between them, other than one of them was slightly taller and more robust. One was wearing a blue mask, and the other a red one.

A gloved hand covered him mouth in disbelief... and maybe, even fear.

'This can't be real. This must be a dream.'

His mind was bellowing at him to feel excited that he had several potential captures all for himself... and yet, that's not what he felt. His soul was slanting it off.  
It had been so hypothetical. So hypothetical he hadn't even considered planning for a human capture anytime soon. Thus, he was neither mentally or physically prepared for the ambush.  
For now, he'd have to retreat and warn Undyne.  
That's what he should do. And yet, intuition was once again a virtue and pulled him back to his house.  
Acquainted footfalls in the masses of the snowy idyll burred throughout the Waterfalls in an echo. They forebode the scorn telling of many a failure to tear at him tonight; sleep being an unfortunate, innocent victim.  
It had become a an inured feeling of his.

"well, here it is, guys. mine a papyrus' home." Sans gestured at the building. Donnie's eyes sifted it; it was a typical rigorous brick-built villa but with odd lights surrounding it seeming of the Christmas theme.

As habit would have it, Mikey voiced Donnie's thoughts, whose words he begrudgingly admitted was suitable.

"It's the middle of summer...?" Although Mikey's question lacked substance of what he was referring to, both of the others understood it.

"oh, this?" Sans pointed at the dimly-lit illumination in various colors climbing the house in a mild zig-zag pattern. "papyrus likes them, so we keep them up. also, it's always winter down here, so we see no reason to take them down."

"Looks roomy and comfy though! Kind of like that old farmhouse where we used to hide." Mikey made sure to compliment.

The skeleton shrugged his bony shoulders underneath the heaviness of his fur hoodie, "it's roof over the head. that's all that matters to me."

Donnie wondered briefly if Sans was some kind of simple-minded wisdom on legs while he heard the rustling of said subject's keys as he unlocked the front door.

"make yourself at home. luckily it's tidy because my bro cleaned it this morning."

"I wish my brothers were as housetrained." Donnie commented. Mikey wasn't sure if that gibe was aimed at him or their other brothers, but he let it be.

"well, make yourselves at home. i'm just gonna go make a short phone call. brb." Sans offered and then made a beeline for the kitchen.

Donnie gladly helped himself by throwing himself backwards onto the couch, leaning back as his eyes lidded.  
"Finally someone who treats us with an ounce of respect." He exhaled, suprising him how worked out his body actually felt.

"Oh, look!" Mikey squeaked, and Donnie peered an eye his way. "They even have a pet rock!" Mikey clutched at the little lump of stone covered in glitter, mesmerized. "Why don't we have a pet rock, Donnie? Why haven't we thought of it before?"

"Mikey, put that back", the purple-masked turtle was about to lecture his younger brother, but as he put his hand in order to support him uppwards, it unexpectedly touched upon a mysterious lump.

When he'd first made a quick glance at the couch as they'd walked inside, he'd assumed there were merely pillows underneath propping the blanket up. How looks can decieve; it felt nothing like the sort.

"What the...?" He made a questioning murmur as he lifted the blanket. "What's-"

His voice let up.

His eyes strained.

His hand clutched.

And his breath stopped.

"What's wrong, bro...?" Mikey planned to approach him to see what was wrong, but a voice emitting from the kitchen door rendered that plan moot.

"oh yeah, you guys had some questions about snowdin. well, you're welcome to ask anythi-" Sans foot stopped in motion. Instead of any questions, he got a sceptical gaze in their place. Donnie faced the skeleton, staring at him.

Donnie didn't know whether to be upset, happy or mad. All three emotions felt too far out.

"Oh, I've got some questions." He intended to sound serious, but his voice broke at the end. Sans looked back, curious of this sudden mood change.  
Before anything further could occur, the front door slammed open.

"SANS! I SAW..."

His jaw remained slack as he bore witness to the scene before him; two kappa much like the ones he'd seen before stood by where that snake girl was sleeping, one of them seeming to have a silent non-malicious dilemma about how to percieve his brother. But strangely, Sans must have invited them in, as there was no sign of forced entry.

Sans looked his direction, from whom he could sense a sheepish glint in his eye.

His disconcerted point of view was no secret.

"WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE?!"

* * *

 **A/N: I really wanted to finish this chapter soon. I'm also fiddling with the next chapter of "Kiss From a Rose"; I got inspired from reading Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. I really admire his lingual story-telling style, even though I know it's not fitting for this type of story. It's inspiring nevertheless.**

 **Until next time :)**


	5. Separation Motivation

**A/N: Hell-to-the-yeah I finished a chapter! Finally! I feel like a weight is gone from my shoulders. Not because of you! It's just feels good for myself to update this story, and posting something new in general. However, I'm super stoked about your reviews as well! They convinced me further to keep writing this story.**

 **I'm much glad how this chapter came out, though I know there's room for improvement. I just hope it's good enough for now.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"so you're saying this creature is your sister?!"

"Kind of, yeah. Her name is Karai." Donatello answered.

Sans's hands tried hiding his face in disbelief, but Donnie could nevertheless sense it from the tone of his voice.

"Not biologically, obviously." A useless addition to the conversation he knew, but he had to kill the awkward silence someway.

"okay, this is just…" Muttered sans in a frail octave, hand against his forehead.

"THIS IS INSANE… ABSOLUTELY INSANE!" Papyrus walked back and forth while holding his hands behind his back in a thinking posture. To pinpoint his confusion amidst all this madness, he decided lashing out at Sans was the most logical option.

"SANS! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING LETTING KAPPA INTO OUR HOUSE?!"

Sans turned his head slightly upward, giving his brother a weary look.

"they saved a girl, papyrus."

"I DON'T CARE! THEY CAN'T STAY HERE! IF UNDYNE FOUND OUT WE HAVE KAPPA IN OUR HOUSE MY REPUTATION WILL BE FOREVER TARNISHED!"

Donnie and Mickey eyed them by flickering their gaze to and fro of whomever was talking at the moment, feeling a bit out of place doing so. Especially Donnie, as the arguing was very reminiscing of something he had experienced as of late…

"…do you seriously believe kappa are still evil, papyrus? That incident happened over a decade ago."

"YOU CAN VOUCH FOR THESE CREATURES AS MUCH AS YOU WANT, BUT THE JURY OF ME WON'T LISTEN! THEY'RE NOT STAYING HERE! PERIOD!"

Donnie felt himself inwardly glaring at the prospect of the younger brother demanding someone far above his own caliber. Did he have any respect for his older sibling at all? He just awaited Sans protest-

"…ok."

Or not.

Sans quickly turned to the turtle duo in order to ease their concerns.

"don't worry, i know of another place you can stay for a while."

Although he knew it was not his place, Donnie wanted badly to shake some sense into Sans. What was he thinking; how could he let his younger brother push him around like that?! Lord forbid if Mikey had tried the same, he would have retaliated by telling him to stick it in his shell. He felt himself practically fuming the more he thought about it, but his respect for other's business was always the winner in every situation.

Mikey pointed at Karai who was miraculously still asleep during the commotion.

"What about her? Do we bring her along, too?"

"I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH HER STAYING HERE. SHE'S NOT A KAPPA. UNDYNE WOULD JUST THINK SHE IS A MONSTER IF SHE SAW HER."

Mikey observed Karai thoughtfully. "I just wonder why we can't stay with our sister. We have been looking all over for her."

Sans shrugged.

"i don't call the shots."

Donnie felt his anger return full force hearing in on Sans' submissiveness. He would ask him questions later, that's for damn sure.

"but, i'd like just one favor, lil bro. i need to talk to donnie about something. alone." Sans attempted to compromise.

"YEAH?" Papyrus knew he wasn't going to like what was coming.

"could mikey stay here with you until then? i think it would be fair to at least have one of them keeping an eye on their sister."

"THAT'S OUT OF THE Q-"

"thanks, you're the best, paps." The shorter skeleton cut off, very much on purpose.

"HOLD ON-"

"bye." Donnie wasn't prepared to get pulled outside by Sans, much less in such a rapid escalation.

After the slam of the door, it was dead silence conquering the room. Both Papyrus and Mikey sat with their arms crossed on the opposite sides of the couch, sneaking a glance at one another now and then curiously. They sensed the elephant in the room, and both were trying to figure out a way to voice it. In the end, Mikey spoke first.

"Okay, bro, what's your deal? Why do you all hate kappa so much?" Startled by the sudden question, Papyrus slightly flinched, turned to the turtle who gave him a soft glare, and started to fiddle with his scarf, a habit developed whenever he got nervous.

"WELL… IN MY CASE… I… I DON'T KNOW WHAT I REALLY THINK OF YOU. I'M JUST WORRIED WHAT OTHER PEOPLE WILL THINK OF US HAVING YOU IN OUR HOUSE."

"Dude, why do you care so much about what other people think?" Mikey spat as his irritation began to wane.

"I… W-WELL… THIS IS EMBARRASSING BUT… I DON'T HAVE MANY FRIENDS BESIDES SANS AND ANOTHER PERSON NAMED UNDYNE. I'M JUST WORRIED I'LL BE SHUNNED BY EVERYBODY."

Michelangelo pondered over the skeletons words, looking down for a bit. A thought hit him, and he smiled to himself, sharing said smile with Papyrus by still wearing it while responding.

"I won't shun you. Neither will my brother. If people are so bigoted as to hate you for being open-minded to all kinds of people, then there's something wrong with them, not you."

"… YOUR NAME WAS MICHELANGELO, RIGHT?"

"In the blood." Mikey responded, pointing a thumb at himself and playfully sticking his tongue out.

Next thing Mikey knew, he was being embraced by skeletal arms as he heard sobs just above his head. It now just hit him how tall the younger brother of the skelebros were.

Pulling back, Papyrus took Mikey's hand and violently shook it, tears passionately running down his non-existent cheeks.

"THAT'S THE NICEST THING ANYONE HAS EVER SAID TO ME!"

Mikey gave a flattered, but sort of awkward sideways smile at the skeleton's happiness. Papyrus then stood up, a clenched fist to his chest, beaming with pride.

"YOU KNOW WHAT, MICHELANGELO? YOU'RE RIGHT! I SHANT WORRY ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE'S MEEK OPINIONS! EVEN IF PEOPLE HATE ME, I WILL STILL HAVE PEOPLE LIKE YOU AS MY LOYAL FRIEND… WHO WILL ALSO TASTE MY MAGNIFICENT SPAGHETTI!"

"Right on!" the turtle chuckled, giving a facile applause at Papyrus' revelation. "Does that mean we can stay here?"

"OH, I WOULD LOVE TO! BUT MY FRIEND UNDYNE IS KNOWN FOR HER HATRED OF KAPPAS. I WILL WAIT FOR THE RIGHT MOMENT TO REVEAL YOU TO HER. SHE'S OUT SCOUTING UNTIL TOMORROW, SO YOU STAYING HERE IN THE MEANTIME SHOULD BE FINE. I WILL REHEARSE THE RIGHT WORDS TO SAY TO HER TILL THEN."

"I totally get that." Mikey agreed, understanding of his decision. "So… is there anything we can do to kill some time?"

"HAVE YOU EVER WATCHED 'GAME OF BONES'?"

* * *

The small skeleton walked briskly as the turtle followed close behind, very much fascinated with the illuminating nature of the large cave in which they'd ended up. At the very least, he attempted such a diversion of his curiosity as Sans had yet to say a single word, being surprisingly agile as he hadn't even slowed down ever since they left.

"Sans…" Donnie began in a gingerly fashion, "Where are we-"

"shh!" Sans perished his thought, gesturing toward large, blue-illuminating flowers lining up by the stream of which connected to a waterfall.

"see those flowers?"

Donnie nodded, puzzled.

"they can listen in on conversations." The skeleton already sensed a disbelief, and added thus: "i know, it sounds crazy, but just trust me, alright? we can talk freely in private once we get to the lab."

Taking into consideration he'd seen far stranger things, not just from his usual life back on the city streets of New York, but also the existence of creatures owing their due to the mutagen that had spread, Donnie felt nothing short of inclined to believe it was all true. Besides, Sans had stuck up for them when left high and dry; it was perhaps a force of habit to give some free trust in return.

Then the turtle realized something.

"Wait, did you say lab?"

Sans didn't fail to note some ecstasy in the ninja's voice as he turned to raise an eyebrow.

"yes. it's kind of my second place to hang. i go there whenever I want to be left alone, or whenever papyrus is just a bit too troublesome for the patience of my sort."

Perhaps they weren't so different as he'd first thought, came Donnie's revelation. It was more about the outflow of their emotions that differentiated, it appeared.

"if that's alright with you?" sans added so to get a proper explanation for Donnie's enthusiasm.

"I'm a scientist, Sans. Of course I'm okay with it!" The turtle beamed with excitement.

"really? that's kinda neat. and you're so young, too. you must be very good at it."

A dark blush came on Donnie's face at the compliment, almost automatically fidgeting with his hands as though he was a little child at his first day of preschool.

"Th-thanks. I hope I am. But it's not without its troubles. It's why we ended up here in the first place. You see…"

"the flowers, donnie." The skeleton warned.

"Oh, yeah! Sorry." His blush further deepened at his own embarrassment.

"it's fine. we're almost there, anyway. can you take heat well?"

The question felt so out of the blue Donnie almost didn't catch it.

"Err… huh?"

Suddenly they were in the very antithesis of Snowdin. Off the wall fell molten rock which created a heap at its foot of burning cascade, and Donnie felt a sudden urge to run back to from which they came.

"welcome to hotland, donnie." Sans almost chuckled in amusement upon looking at his friend's discomfort. "don't worry, we won't be out here for long. the lab's got ac."

"Thank goodness." came Donnie's sentiment before he could stop it.

They turned a fork and the entrance was plain in view, obviously not trying to keep out visitors with its visibility. Opening the door was a sinch, and before they both knew it, they were inside.

Sans stepped further in with second-rate caution as his voice heightened.

"alphys! you in here?"

No response. Sans grinned with his wide skeleton mouth and turned to the turtle.

"good. we're alone. i don't have to explain away your presence for now."

Sans gestured at him to follow as he reached for the elevator. Once inside and having picked the right floor, they were on their way down.

The silence didn't stay for long as Donnie proceeded to talk.

"I'm sorry, Sans."

"hmm? for what?"

"I wanted to say this back in the cave, but we couldn't talk back there, so…"

"nothing holdin' you back in here, bro."

"Good to know." Donatello spoke as his eyes got caught in a lock with their feet. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry for assuming bad things about you when we found Karai on your couch. I'm a horrible judge of character."

"chill, bro, i get it. there's nothing wrong with being wary of strangers. it will save your life. let me instead commend you for letting us explain our situation. it's very important to take in all sides of the argument before coming to a conclusion. but, I since I'm talking to a scientist, i assume these things are painfully obvious to you." Sans gave Donnie a pat on his shoulder.

"Not as much as you'd think." His admission outed. "Some scientists throughout history are known to be stubborn in their worldview. I try so hard not to be one of them it might seem to conduct itself in the other direction."

"well, at least you're self-aware. i'd say that's an accomplishment." Sans mimicked his friend by also tilting his head southwards. "i didn't have that quality when i needed it the most, and i've kicked myself down relentlessly ever since."

The purple-clad turtle's thoughts roamed about sans' words, not sure what he was implying.

"Sans… what do you me-?" The sound of the elevator stopping interrupted him mid-word, saving his questions for future discussion.

* * *

"I can't believe how slow you are!" Undyne gritted her teeth with frustration as her recruits neared. It was unbelievable how slow her men were! While she'd managed running 5 miles without a hitch, her pupils didn't possess the same stamina. However, being a teacher, she'd signed up for these kind of expectations and wasn't allowed to throw any shade on them. But it was tedious nonetheless, especially since they manifested inexperience in the workout department. What she wouldn't give for a challenge once in a while! While not physically, these work days were wearing her out, slowly losing passion when she didn't observe much progress.

"Fine!" She puffed, and not in an exasperated way, "Take a 10-minute break! But after that, we're up and running again! All the way back to the ruins!"

Thankfully, the soldiers relaxed for a much longed after breather. As she herself wasn't feeling the least tired, she decided for some quick catching wind in solo scouting. Careful not to stray far, she took off in the nearest passage. Having practiced a great sense of location, there was no way she could get lost, although humility was just as much an important strength, so she didn't allow herself to be too comfortable in this fact.

Her ear perked at a low noise, and she took a quick dive for the nearest pillar to hide behind. The voices neared, and she grew more and more suspicious as she wasn't familiar with the owners of them. There seemed to be three guys and one girl talking in discretion. Despite knowing of its recklessness, her idea to peer out was an impulse, even in stealth. Upon seeing the culprits, her eyes gained an unnatural size while her tongue went dry. Her heart skipped a few beats, her brain went cold. These moments she'd be trained for, so it didn't take long until a smirk tentatively crept its way to her lips, her intentions clearly tacit.

"My day just got a whole lot better", Undyne whispered as she pulled out her sword from its sheath.

* * *

 **A/N: Yes, I know it's a bit slow paced but that's because I want to use my vocabulary to its maximum capacity! It's one of the reasons I write at all (and to expand upon it, of course). I definitely know where to take the story, so please don't ask "When are the Kraang returning?!" Chill, they will be. Just be patient :3**

 **Thanks again for following me and this story. That and your reviews mean the world to me! Kisses!**


End file.
